Tesla offers Model 3 test drives for first time — in Bay Area

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A man photographs a Tesla Model 3 as others check out the car at the
entry-level electric sedan’s first appearance in a Tesla showroom, on
Friday, Jan. 12 at Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, Calif. (Ethan
Baron/Bay Area News Group)

Annelies Lindemans, 47, of San Jose, a Tesla Model 3 reservation holder,
adjusts the mirror on a display model of the car at the electric sedan’s
first appearance in a Tesla showroom, on Friday, Jan. 12 at Stanford
Shopping Center in Palo Alto, Calif. (Ethan Baron/Bay Area News Group)

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The Tesla Model 3 on display at the Tesla store in the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, Calif., on Thursday, January 11, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

The rear of the Tesla Model 3 on display at the Tesla store in the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, Calif., on Thursday, January 11, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

The Tesla Model 3, right, on display at the Tesla store in the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, Calif., on Thursday, January 11, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

A large tent behind the Tesla factory Calif., on Monday, June 25, 2018. The tent is being used to build the Model 3 cars. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

Rex Crum/Bay Area News Group

The Tesla Model 3 tested by Mercury News writer Rex Crum charges up at the Tesla Supercharger station in Concord, Calif. (Rex Crum/Bay Area News Group)

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The company chose the Bay Area locations for the initial test-drive offering, and plans to roll the program out nationwide this summer.

While the Model 3 carries Tesla’s ambitions to be the electric car maker to the masses, the $35,000 model intended to attract the most buyers is not yet in production. The test-drive cars will be premium versions with a long-range battery and rear-wheel drive, Tesla said.

The test drives are offered to people who have put down $1,000 deposits on the Model 3. A Tesla staffer will accompany drivers. Nearly half a million Model 3s have been reserved, according to Tesla.

For the car maker headed by CEO Elon Musk, the Model 3 has attracted widespread interest, and delays in its production have sparked controversy over the firm’s ability to meet promised goals.

Ethan Baron is a business reporter at The Mercury News, and a native of Silicon Valley before it was Silicon Valley. Baron has worked as a reporter, columnist, editor and photographer in newspapers and magazines for 25 years, covering business, politics, social issues, crime, the environment, outdoor sports, war and humanitarian crises.

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